Nearly a year and a half after it opened its doors to Calgarians and others from far and wide, the Red Bison Brewery poured its last pint Saturday night.

Steve Carlton, who opened the brewery alongside his wife, Veronica, and other investors, said their inability to get beer in cans led to the demise of their Franklin Park brewery and taproom.

“There was a shift of preference (from beer bombers) to cans really, really quick,” said Steve, who stepped aside from a crowded taproom Saturday evening to speak with Postmedia. “We started trying to raise money over a year ago to try to get into cans (as we worked) changing over labels, brewing all the beers to go into cans, paying for cans, paying for contract canners to come in.

“It’s a huge, huge expense we didn’t have the cash flow to make happen. Our current investors were tapped out. Veronica and I put in as much money as we had plus more we didn’t have to try to keep going.”

His start in the brewing business came as it did for many others — by brewing from the comfort of his own home. But after years of hard work to set up and keep the full-scale brewery brewing, Carlton leaves the business warning others of what he calls a difficult time for many small breweries in the province.

“It’s quite volatile,” said Carlton. “The number of craft breweries is exploding. I think the number of breweries is vastly outpacing the number of beer drinkers coming in new to the market.

“There’s probably more liquor stores and bars closing, so there’s less accounts (for breweries). We had bars tell us ‘don’t come back, we don’t want to hear from any more reps.’ You call, you email, people don’t return your calls because they’re overwhelmed with 150 reps coming at them every week.”

Red Bison Brewery marked its last day of business on Saturday.Brendan Miller/Postmedia

For any new breweries looking to open, Carlton had one warning: “don’t start a craft brewery now.”

“I’d wait and see how things shake out,” he said. “People talk, it’s a growing industry but it’s small. It sounds like there’s a whole bunch of breweries trying to raise money … just like we do.

“I hope the best for everyone and that they don’t have to go through what we’re going through, but it’s tough. I can’t imagine that everyone is going to succeed that’s open now, or that’s about to open.”

Mike McNeil, executive director of the Alberta Small Brewers Association, said the province currently has over 120 craft breweries and is still growing.

“Scaling a business in the craft sector is quite challenging in Alberta because you’re not only competing for customers against other craft brewers in the province, but you’re competing against brewers across the country as well,” he said. “There’s more competition for shelf space, and ultimately breweries only succeed long-term if we get more people our products.

“There’s a lot more room for growth, but unfortunately, some businesses have unique challenges. Overall, I would say it’s still growing but there’s a lot more we can do to get the industry further.”

McNeil said those challenges surround getting more craft beer into the hands of consumers not only in Alberta but in other provinces. That, he said, can be constrained at times due to the different business models breweries embrace.

“A lot of breweries want to have the taproom experience, be hyper-local and become a community gathering spot and that’s their business plan,” he said, “and there’s some breweries that want to have the taproom plus scale their business to retail.

“That’s challenging, but there are breweries that are succeeding in doing that. It is, of course, competing for shelf space and all that requires a lot of capital investment which is challenging for small business owners, too.”

Carlton said the brewery was sold to a kombucha brewing company, which purchased their brewing equipment and took over the lease for the property.

This Week's Flyers

Comments

Postmedia is pleased to bring you a new commenting experience. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.